Why does "Je t'aime" have an elision whereas "Tu es bête" has no elision?

Question

So we'll go with the translations.

Tu es bête → You are stupid.

Je t'aime → I love you.

There is an elision in "Je t'aime", while "tu" is spelled in full in "Tu es". Why is the first one elided?

I'm sorry if there is something obvious- I'm only learning!

@Stéphanegimenez I'm asking about "Je t'aime", not "Tu es." — bleh, Apr 13 '16 at 22:58
Ok the phrasing was a bit weird so I misunderstood your problem. I tried to improve it. — Stéphane Gimenez, Apr 13 '16 at 23:09
Hint: I and me. You and you. He and him. She and her. We and us… — Stéphane Gimenez, Apr 13 '16 at 23:12
Possible duplicate of Why isn't “tu es” written “t'es”? — Greg Hewgill, Apr 13 '16 at 23:18

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:38

When using direct object pronouns that end with a vowel:

me

te ----> (NOT "tu")

le

la

there should always be an elision.

The reason "Tu es bête" is not written (at least formally) "T'es bête" is because it is constructed with the subject pronoun Tu + verb.

You would never write (again, formally or academically):

T'envoies une lettre à... ?

or

T'oses faire ça...

because these are examples of where "Tu" is the subject, but you could say

Il t'envoie une lettre...

or

On ose te faire ça...

because here, "te" is the direct object pronoun and sometimes requires an elision.

1 Answers1